286 K-12 LEADERSHIP PRACTICES
Carolina (Egelson, Harmon, Hood, & Achilles, 2003), and the Wisconsin Student
Achievement Guarantee in Education or SAGE (Molnar, Smith, Zahorik, Halbach & Ehrle,
1999).
CONNECTING THE DOTS
Children who do not achieve grade-level reading and math skills by the end of grade three
often drop out of school and continue the vicious cycle of intergenerational poverty. “When
the school readiness level of the nation’s poor children was assessed, it became clear that
Head Start has not eliminated the gap in educational skills and knowledge needed for school
success” (DHHS, 2003, p. 1). However, some early childhood evaluations have provided
robust empirical data on Pre–K and Head Start-type programs in which little to no fade was
evident and for which achievement on achievement tests and long-term gains for participants
are evident. In the Head Start national research and evaluation studies (DHHS, 2003) and in
Barnett’s reports (1993, 1995) of 10–11 large-scale preschool and Head Start studies, three
programs, the Abecedarian program in North Carolina for children age 0–5, the Chicago
Child Parent Centers (CCPC) for children ages 3–9, which showed persistent increases, and
Michigan’s Perry Child Development Center (PCDC) study for three- to four-year-old
children showed a small fade effect initially but later reported longitudinal gains with
reductions in grade retention and special education referrals. Barnett (1993) conducted a cost-
benefit analysis of the PCDC and found that of five studies only Perry showed persistent
increases in achievement data with significant follow-up, low attrition, and real-life outcome
measures. Longitudinal studies showed significant gains in achievement, high-school
graduation, and college enrollment over peers not enrolled in these programs. Similar
outcomes were found in the comprehensive Head Start study report (DHHS, 2003), which had
examples of both successful and weak programs.
The Michigan School Readiness Profile (MSRP) five-year follow-up study found that
four-year-old children living in poverty had success in closing the gap in student achievement
and was reported to have saved the state $11 million a year in the cost of grade-level retention
and special education services as a result of gains in grades K–3 (Xiang & Schweinhart,
2002). Compelling data from empirical research and theory suggest a solution to the Head
Start Fade. A theoretic solution can be derived by examining and using the common factors of
successful early education programs, and the longitudinal gains associated with small-class
research like STAR, SAGE, and Burke County, NC.
For example, the STAR experiment provided data to support theoretic positions advanced
by Ramey and Ramey (1989) in the Abecedarian study. Results reported by Finn and Achilles
(1999), Finn, Gerber, Achilles, and Boyd-Zaharias (2001), and by others have shown that for
early achievement gains to have enduring effects, three major conditions must be met:
- Early intervention: when the student starts school.
- Duration: provide small classes for three, preferably four years, so that the child
can learn about school (an apprenticeship for years of successful “work”). - Intensity: maintain the small class all day, every day.
The Abecedarian program, CCPC, and PCDC included these factors. The STAR
experiment identified two other elements that contribute to the gains: heterogeneity and a
cohort arrangement. Evidence of these practices exists in Head Start programs where
treatment effects last beyond high-school graduation (Barnett, 2003).